Meta-Analytic Review of Role of Career Stage in Newcomers’ Socialization: Beyond Stages Model of Organizational-Socialization

The long-lasting effects of organizational socialization have been a source of motivation for scholarly inquiries. However, owing to a consistent increase in newcomers’ turnover rate since 2021, newcomers’ socialization needs even more attention as retaining and successfully onboarding new recruits is reported to be more challenging in the post-pandemic times. This study quantitatively consolidates empirical research on 38 organizational socialization relationships and outcomes conducted over the past three decades. It also tests the moderating effects of a newcomer’s career stage on the focal relationships. The study employed the meta-analysis structural equation modelling approach to analyse a sample of 123 studies, encompassing 755 effect sizes across an aggregated sample of 198,698 respondents. The results validate pre-encounter-accommodation and accommodation-adaptation relationships and also extend the multistage model of organizational socialization by supporting interrelationships among pre-encounter-OSTs, and accommodation-adaptation factors. Additionally, the results showed emerging paths between socialization factors. The strength of the examined relationships showed significant variations across three career stages of newcomers, which provides beneficial implications for organizations and HR professionals.